


and the dawn was filled with the joyous chatter of crickets

by destinationtoast



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: 221B Ficlet, A Study in Pink, Fairy Tales, M/M, Pinocchio - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-15
Updated: 2013-06-15
Packaged: 2017-12-15 02:44:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/844414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destinationtoast/pseuds/destinationtoast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once there was a real boy who wanted to be a little wooden boy.  (A 221B fairy tale)</p>
            </blockquote>





	and the dawn was filled with the joyous chatter of crickets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



Once there was a real boy who wanted to be a little wooden boy.

This little boy had a rare gift -- he could transmute seeing into observing. He detected, he deduced, and he always told the truth about what he learned. Those around him were filled with surprise and fear. They called him “freak,” and they turned away.

This hurt the boy fiercely. And so he decided to pretend he was made of wood, because wood did not care. He took his heart and locked it away, safe and deep, and vowed never again to use it.

The boy’s gift worked best, though, if he shared his process with others. For lonely years, he kept a skull for company and conversation. Then, one day, the boy, now grown, met another singular soul. A healer-soldier returned from battle, broken in body and mind, but not heart. The detective unraveled his histories in a moment, and spoke his thoughts aloud. He readied himself for revilement. 

Instead, the healer showered the detective with praise. Later, the soldier shot an enemy, saving the detective’s life. They laughed. They kissed. In the early morning light, as the detective lay abed with the man sleeping peacefully at his side, he felt, for the first time in years, the strong beating of his own heart within his breast.

**Author's Note:**

> For wiggleofjudas's birthday -- my first attempt at a 221B or a fairy tale-inspired story.


End file.
